PARROT-WKASSES. 531 



from the Troad, and introduced it into the sea between 

 Ostium and Campagna. For five years all that were caught 

 in the nets were thrown into the sea again, and from that 

 time it was an abundant fish in that locality. In the time of 

 Pliny it was considered to be the first of fishes {Nunc Scaro 

 datur principatus) ; and the expense incurred by Elipentius 

 was justified, in the opinion of the Eoman gourmands, by the 

 extreme delicacy of the fish. It was a fish, said the poets, 

 whose very excrements the gods themselves were unwilling 

 to reject. Its flesh was tender, agreeable, sweet, easy of 

 digestion, and quickly assimilated ; yet if it happened to have 

 eaten an Aplysia, it produced violent diarrhoea. In short, 

 there is no fish of which so much has been said by ancient 

 writers. In the present day the Scarus of the Archipelago is 

 considered to be a fish of exquisite flavour ; and the Greeks 

 still name it Scaro, and eat it with a sauce made of its liver 

 and intestines. It feeds on fucus ; and Valenciennes thinks 

 that the necessity for masticating its vegetable diet thoroughly, 

 and the working of it with that intent backwards and for- 

 wards in the mouth, may have given rise to the notion of its 

 being a ruminant ; and it is certain that its aliment is very 

 finely divided when it reaches the stomach. 



ScARiCHTHYS. — Differing from Scarus only in having flexible 

 dorsal spines. 



Fig. 242. — Scarichthys auritus. 



Two species from the Indo-Pacific. 



